


Sanderstale

by swimmingseafish



Series: Sanderstale Universe [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, I'm not telling you who everyone else is yet but they'll all be in there, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Thomas is Frisk, Undertale!AU, and characters shooting magical bullets, but also present w/regards to Thomas in the first two chapters, eventually, mostly with regards to Chara's backstory, there will be magic battles that take place, to Undertale that is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmingseafish/pseuds/swimmingseafish
Summary: A child named Thomas travels through the Underground, makes many friends, and finds himself.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Logan Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Patton Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Thomas Sanders & Chara Dreemurr, basically Thomas & everyone
Series: Sanderstale Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710589
Comments: 32
Kudos: 33





	1. The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Sanderstale! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> The number of chapters is still to be determined, and I'll do my best to update at least semi-regularly--if I can get a set schedule going, I'll let you know.
> 
> Please read the tags, and I'll give warnings at the beginnings of each chapter as needed. There will be brief chapter summaries in the notes at the end of each chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thomas falls.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: suicidal thoughts, violence toward Thomas and his friends by an adult.

Thomas did not enjoy falling, especially for this long.

Falls were supposed to be short. When he jumped off of picnic tables or tripped and scraped his knee or moved out of the way too slowly, there had been immediate and painful consequences.

He’d hoped this might be quick too, maybe.

Or—

Maybe not.

He honestly wasn’t sure at this point what he’d wanted when he’d jumped into the mountain.

*****

Thomas had grown up in an orphanage. He’d never known loving parents, just the orphanage head, Mr. Caplan, who had wanted to hear as little out of the children as possible. Mr. Caplan was far more concerned with how much they could work and how much money he could make out of them.

But Thomas had two amazing friends, Joan and Talyn, who he would defend with his life. He could barely remember a time before Joan, and he’d known Talyn nearly as long.

He’d spent the majority of his ten years of life being a protector. He was there for Joan when they couldn’t stand being alone. He snuck Talyn their medicine when Mr. Caplan locked it away. He walked Joan to the nurse, Miss Ellery, down the street when Mr. Caplan refused. He calmed Talyn down from their third panic attack of the day after Mr. Caplan tore their notebook.

Thomas could get through anything as long as Joan and Talyn were all right.

One day, though, Thomas went too far.

Mr. Caplan was furious—again. Joan and Talyn had stolen a couple of apples from the fridge because they were starving. They were on rationed food as a punishment for breaking the pencil sharpener the week before, but Talyn especially had needed more because they needed to be able to take their medicine and keep it down.

Joan and Talyn had stood together in the kitchen, holding hands, terrified and clinging to each other while Mr. Caplan raised a ruler over his head, clearly meaning to bring it down on them.

Thomas walked in right then. He’d been looking for Joan and Talyn. He saw the situation and didn’t hesitate, yelling, “NO!” and jumping in front of the blow.

The ruler crashed against the bridge of Thomas’ nose. He was already off-balance from the jump and the extra whack knocked him over.

Thomas hit the ground, bruising his knees. He tried to get up, but he only succeeded in raising himself up on one knee and holding his arms out in front of Talyn and Joan, who were completely frozen in shock.

Mr. Caplan sneered, swaying a little on his feet.

“What are you going to do, kid?” he slurred, laughing. Thomas was shaking, but he stared up at Mr. Caplan with fire in his eyes.

“I’m protecting them from you!”

“Thomas…” Joan whispered.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! And I won’t stop! Ever!”

“Thomas…” Talyn breathed.

“Hmm…I think I’ve had about enough of your insubordination, and enough of you, kid.”

Thomas couldn’t properly remember what happened after that, but he woke up outside in the rain, curled in a ball at the bottom of the steps. His head hurt so much, and he had bruises all over his arms and legs.

Mr. Caplan was standing over him. The words were blurry, but Thomas remembered him saying that Thomas better not come back or he’d get rid of Thomas permanently. And he remembered the door slamming.

Thomas didn’t know what to do, so he sat by the side of the orphanage, shivering, for about an hour before Joan and Talyn came out. Joan had a black eye, and Talyn was holding their right arm tight against their body.

He apologized a thousand times, devastated, but they told him to stop.

They gave him their apples, wrapped in a towel they’d managed to nab from the kitchen. They hugged him, not caring how wet he was, and added to the water drenching his clothes with their tears.

They only left when they had to go back inside before curfew.

And they told him to leave the village. To protect himself. To stay safe.

Thomas huddled outside until the rain stopped. Under the stars, soaking wet, and sadder and more terrified than he’d ever been, he made a plan.

He’d heard of a place where there was magic, and maybe monsters, too. People never came back, so no one ever went there anymore. But maybe, just maybe, some of the magic could help him get Joan and Talyn out of the orphanage, and maybe it could help all three of them find a home.

And, if not…maybe it would still be better than this.

Thomas began walking towards Mt. Ebott. 

*****

The wind whistled past Thomas’ face, cold where it passed his tears. It sliced past the cut on his nose and blew away the thin piece of cloth he’d used as a bandage. The light at the top of the mountain’s cavern grew farther and farther away.

Had all of this been worth it? To…to die, at the bottom of a mountain? To never see Joan and Talyn again?

He wasn’t worth anything, though—he couldn’t save his friends. Why should he save himself?

Thomas closed his eyes just before he hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary:
> 
> Thomas flashes back to the orphanage he grew up in while falling down Mt. Ebott. He did his best to protect his friends, Joan and Talyn, but was eventually thrown out by the abusive orphanage director after jumping in front of them to protect them from him. The chapter ends with him hitting the bottom of Mt. Ebott.
> 
> Additional notes: Not much else to say yet, but I hope you're enjoying (?) this so far!
> 
> Up next: Thomas makes an unexpected friend.


	2. New Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One child meets another.
> 
> Warnings: brief mentions/allusions to suicidal thoughts at the beginning of this chapter.

The most surprising part was that Thomas wasn’t dead.

The second-most surprising part was the *poof* of golden flower petals that erupted into the air when he hit the ground. He’d expected to hit cold stone.

Covered in petals, Thomas just laid on top of the squished flowers for a while, dried tears still on his face. Any tears that might have tried to follow them had been scared away by the shock of surviving the fall. He stared up at the dot of light, just barely visible at the top of the immense cavern above.

_What do I do now?_

_I guess…I’ll just get up and start walking. Maybe…maybe there’s magic down here…maybe I could still save them._

Thomas stood up slowly, wincing a bit. His legs were sore from hiking all the way up Mt. Ebott. He looked up at the sky and stretched his arms out—

_Angry faces, tears, frozen friends behind him—_

And took a deep breath. He was still scared, but he was resolved, and he had somewhere to go. He still wasn’t sure he deserved to be alive, but if he could help Joan and Talyn now, then he had to do whatever he could.

He was filled with determination.

Then an incredibly loud scream split the cavern.

“EDEN!!!”

Thomas jumped backwards, tripped on a stem, and promptly fell on his butt, conveniently throwing the source of the scream directly into his line of sight.

His jaw dropped.

In the center of the golden flowers, where Thomas had been standing, was another child. They had straight brown hair that fell to their shoulders and bangs that were just slightly too long. Their entire body was tinged red and they were floating about six inches off the ground. Oh, and they also were transparent.

Thomas was looking at what he could only describe as a ghost.

“EDEN!” The ghost child screamed again, spinning around frantically. “Where are you?! Where—”

Their eyes fell on Thomas, and they stopped dead.

“You are…not Eden. You are a human.”

Thomas tilted his head to the side.

“…Yes. Aren’t you?” A quiet “Aren’t you? Aren’t you? Aren’t you?” disappeared into the distance, and Thomas realized that the ghost’s voice hadn’t echoed in the cavern at all.

Their face shifted from shocked to closed, and they stepped back.

“Why are you here.”

Thomas shifted in the flowerbed. He didn’t want to explain all of it. Not to this strange child and maybe not to anyone ever.

“I climbed the mountain and I…fell down here.”

Their face didn’t change, but Thomas felt like he was being inspected. He could feel their curiosity, but he also felt a strange animosity from them, like they were prepared to dislike him on principle. That suddenly dropped away, and he wondered why, until they said:

“No. You jumped.”

Thomas felt a shock go through his entire body, and his surprise showed clear as day on his face. The ghost child’s expression shifted in a way he couldn’t describe.

“N-no I didn’t,” he squeaked out.

The ghost child now looked like they were trying to smile and frown at the same time. 

“Don’t lie.”

“I…don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay.”

The two of them sat in silence for a minute before Thomas broke it.

“Hey…I keep calling you ‘the ghost child’ in my head, but…I’d like to use your name instead. My name’s Thomas, and I use he/him pronouns. What’s yours?”

The other child looked over at him, then looked down at their hands, flexing them a few times. “My name is Chara. They/them.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Chara.” Thomas hesitated for a bit, and then continued. “There’s some stuff that I don’t want to talk about, and I bet you have some too, but I’d like to ask you questions if that’d be okay with you. You can ask me too, if you want.”

Chara looked over at Thomas. Their face was blank, but Thomas could somehow tell that they were confused, which in turn confused him. He was good at reading people, but not so good that he could read emotions off a stoic child he’d just met.

 _Stop it, you’re getting off topic, they’re going to think you’re ignoring them!_ He quickly returned his brain to the conversation and his focus to Chara’s face.

“You…care that I’m okay with it?”

“Yeah! My friends care about how I feel, and I care about how they feel. I’m not your friend yet, but I’d like to be—”

“You shouldn’t. I’m not a good person.”

Well, Thomas couldn’t let that go. He didn’t know them very well yet, but he never let his friends talk badly about themselves, and he wasn’t about to let Chara do that either. He stood up, brushing off the flower petals, and said something he’d once heard Nurse Ellery say:

“Let me be the judge of that.”

Chara’s face twitched before settling again. “Well, if you’re so determined…fine.”

Thomas grinned, bouncing on his toes. “Okay! First question! Who’s Eden?”

Chara immediately looked back at their hands again. “…I can’t remember.”

“You can’t remember?”

“That is what I just said.”

“But you said I wasn’t Eden. How’d you know that if you can’t remember who Eden is?”

Chara’s eyebrows furrowed just a little. “I don’t remember his face, but I remember that Eden is my best friend, and that Eden’s not human. Eden’s a monster.”

Thomas was spooked a little bit, but he asked, “What do you mean?”

Chara saw Thomas’ expression and let out a tiny huff of laughter, though it didn’t sound like they were particularly happy. “Not a monster like humans. A monster like a magical creature that lives underground.”

Thomas’ brain was exploding a little bit, but he managed to say, “Oh.”

Chara snapped their fingers twice and then turned to face Thomas. “All right. It is your turn to answer questions. I believe you asked me four. So, I get to ask you four.”

Thomas shook his head to dislodge his confusion. “Okay. Go for it.”

Chara nodded, a tiny twitch of their head. “How old are you?”

“I’m ten,” Thomas said, and then, immediately forgetting the rules they’d set up, asked, “How old are you?”

Their face closed again as they said, “I thought it was my turn to ask questions.”

“Oh no, you’re right, I’m so sorry—”

“I believe I am eleven, though—I am not sure, but that seems right.” They stared at Thomas for a few moments before continuing. “Do you know where we are right now?”

“I think we’re inside…under…Mt. Ebott, but at this point I’m not really certain of anything. My world’s kinda been turned upside down today.”

Chara stared at Thomas and then burst out laughing.

“What?” Thomas said, smiling a little. Their laughter was contagious.

“You fell down on your BACK, Thomas! You were upside down!”

Thomas started laughing too, and for a good five minutes, the cavern was filled with the laughter of a living child and a dead one, releasing the pent-up tension and uncertainty. Both children completely forgot the question game.

But it didn’t last long. As quickly as they started laughing, Chara stopped again, leaving Thomas to expel the last few laughter notes on his own.

“We are in the Underground,” they said, their eyes shining. “I just remembered. That’s what it’s called. And we are close to the Ruins. We should head there now.”

Thomas wasn’t inclined at this point to shoot down an offer of directions, especially from his new friend who apparently loved terrible and accidental puns. But he had to ask anyway:

“Why?”

Chara’s bright energy dimmed a little, and Thomas could sense their returning doubt. “I’m not sure,” they said, “but it feels like home, a little.”

“Will there be magic there?”

“Probably. There is magic in most places here, I think. Why?”

Thomas stepped carefully off of the flowerbed, scuffing his shoes against the cavern floor to remove some seeds stuck to the bottoms. The lights in his sneakers flickered feebly, the LEDs waterlogged and worn from use.

“I thought that maybe I could use magic to help my friends.”

Chara’s face closed completely, and they turned away from Thomas. “I do not think monsters here will want to help humans. I do not, either. But you…you are different. Maybe they will want to help you.”

Thomas had so many questions. He could see—and feel—that Chara was hurting, but he couldn’t help them. And he couldn’t help himself, really, either, though that wasn’t new. But he could walk with them at his side to the Ruins, and maybe they could figure something out.

“O-okay, then! Let’s head toward the Ruins.”

The two children left the flower patch, walked down a short hallway, and then turned into another cavern that had only grass and a single golden flower. It was larger than the others. Thomas tried to nudge Chara, but his shoulder went right through them and he stumbled forward a few steps. They both let out matching yelps of surprise.

“Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry, I forgot you were a ghost,” said Thomas frantically, automatically checking them for scrapes and bruises before remembering again that they were a ghost.

Chara looked more astonished at the overwhelming number of “sorries” than at the bumping. “No, it is okay.”

“I just—sorry, geez—”

“You do not need to apologize—”

“—wanted to ask you something—is that a monster?”

Chara’s eyebrows rose a little. “Is what a monster?”

And then the golden flower lifted its head and grinned.

“Howdy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary:
> 
> Thomas meets Chara, a mysterious, red, amnesiac ghost child. He's eager to have a new friend, but Chara is slow to trust. The two of them agree to head deeper into the caverns to find the Ruins and run into a large golden flower.
> 
> Additional notes: Nothing yet!
> 
> Up next: Flowey arrives.


	3. Your Best Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Flowey appears, Chara remembers some things, and Thomas is too selfless.
> 
> Warnings: traumatic memories and vague mentions of abuse.

Chara was alone in a grassy field.

They had a feeling that being alone wasn’t a new experience. The bigger problem here was that they _shouldn’t_ be alone right now. They should have Thomas. They didn’t quite know what to think of him, but he was oddly kind, and he was the only person they knew or could remember.

“Thomas?” they called, spinning around in a circle. “Thomas? Thomas?!”

But nobody came.

They sat down and put their head in their hands. Just their luck. Why had they tried to be optimistic? Nothing good ever came of that.

Then, a hand tapped their shoulder, and they nearly shrieked.

Instead, though, they jerked their head up as fast as they could. A blurry, fuzzy figure was standing above them. Chara couldn’t make out the figure’s face, but surprisingly, they weren’t scared at all. When Chara stood up, they realized the figure was just slightly taller than them.

The figure waved and held up a black object.

_“Howdy, Chara! Smile for the camera!”_

Suddenly, they were in a kitchen made of grey bricks. A different, taller figure wearing a purple tunic stood at the counter. The room smelled like cinnamon.

_“Hey, kiddo. Did you want to help me bake?”_

Their location changed again, this time to a garden filled with flowers. The largest figure yet bent over the flowerbeds but turned to Chara as they stepped forward.

_“Howdy, Chara! Would you care for a cup of tea?”_

The field.

_“Haha, I got you! I left the cap on…on PURPOSE!”_

The kitchen.

_“Of course you can have more pie, Chara! But you must finish cleaning your room first.”_

The garden.

_“It’s too cold? I shall heat it up for you right away!”_

Field.

_“Now you’re smiling for NOOOOO reason!”_

Kitchen.

_“I love you too, Chara.”_

Garden.

_“Nothing but the best for the future of humans and monsters!”_

It cycled, fast and then faster. Chara was completely lost in a sea of vague memories, but they were happy. They felt loved here, not lost and adrift with only a strange human boy for company. However nice he might seem, Thomas was not family. These memory-monsters felt like family.

*****  
  


“Thomas? Thomas? Thomas?!”

“Chara? Chara, I’m right here!” Thomas cried, reaching his hands out to his friend before remembering that he couldn’t touch them. He felt devastated as they sat down and put their face in their hands. _What happened? Why can’t they see me?_

“What?” asked another voice.

Thomas turned to the flower, who had moved closer, head cocked to the side. “Who’re you talking to?”

Thomas thought very quickly.

_The flower—the monster—can’t see Chara? Why not? Should I tell them about Chara? No! I don’t know them. I don’t know anything about monsters, really, except that Chara thinks they’re better than humans. I’ll go with the safe option. Maybe they’ll leave it alone._

“I—um—I—it’s a human thing!” babbled Thomas. “I have an imaginary friend! Don’t worry about it!” He couldn’t help but follow Chara as best he could out of the corner of his eye and was astonished when he saw that they were wandering around the cave, looking at things he couldn’t see—unless they were just admiring the walls, which he supposed was a possibility. And…they were…smiling?

The flower tilted their head the opposite direction, then returned it to the center. Thomas had a feeling that they would be shrugging if they could. “Well, that’s not suspicious at all… let’s get back to business. I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower. He/him, if you want to know.”

“H-hi,” Thomas said. He was about to introduce himself, but Flowey didn’t give him enough time before chiming back in.

“You’re new to the Underground, huh, kiddo?” The flower started grinning manically, and Thomas noticed that he didn’t appear to have pupils. “Maybe little old me could help you out.”

There was an abrupt clicking noise, and Thomas felt an odd pulling sensation in his chest. A red glow filled the cave, Flowey’s grin only growing.

“W-what did you just do?” Thomas’ hands went to his chest. He touched something in the shape of a cartoon heart. It pulsed gently in rhythm with his heartbeat.

“That’s your SOUL!” Flowey said gleefully. “The very—”

“ _STOP!!!”_

Thomas jumped and looked wildly around the cave. His eyes landed on Chara, curled up in a ball on the floor with their hands over their ears. Flowey continued his speech, but Thomas was no longer listening.

He ran over to Chara and called their name.

******

Chara continued to watch as the happy feelings and monsters flew by them. Field. Kitchen. Garden. Field, kitchen, garden, field-kitchen-garden-fieldkitchengarden—

The scenes sped up, moving faster and faster and faster until they became a blur. Chara felt like they were being lifted up by cinnamon and hugs and laughter and love and joy and HOME, and it was both alien and nostalgic. They never wanted to leave.

They floated up higher and higher, high enough that they should have hit the ceiling of the kitchen, but they never did, spinning around in circles, laughing. They felt free. They felt like a child. They felt _safe_.

And then they fell.

They were still incorporeal, but, somehow, they hit the ground extremely hard, red light radiating from the impact point. They figured they would have gotten a bruise if they were alive, but they didn’t dwell on that long because they were extremely miffed that they’d been kicked out of…whatever that had been.

“HEY!” they screamed, leaping to their feet. They grasped at their side for a weapon but found nothing. “That…that was RUDE! VERY RUDE!!!”

The room was silent.

“WHO DID THIS? WHERE DID YOU GO?!”

The room continued to be silent.

“I want to see them again!!” they shouted, tears forming in the corners of their eyes.

Still nothing.

“I…I miss them…” Tears ran down their cheeks, and they gave into sadness for a split second before driving their emotions back towards anger.

“And I can’t even really REMEMBER them! Is that YOUR fault? What’s WRONG WITH YOU?! I HATE YOU! I HATE THIS! YOU’RE HORRIBLE!”

A new voice spoke out of the darkness, and Chara froze.

_“Would it be too much to ask you to behave for once? Speak properly! And do NOT call me names, you insufferable, horrible, BRAT!”_

Chara couldn’t move.

_“If you refuse to talk, why should you be outside at all? You are clearly not fit to interact with society if you cannot speak like a normal person.”_

“What—”

_“What is this nonsense you keep bringing up? That does not exist. You are being silly.”_

“St-stop it!”

_“Do NOT tell anyone about this, do you understand me? Or you will regret it.”_

“Shut UP!” Chara jammed their hands over their ears, though it did nothing to block out the sound. “BE QUIET!”

The room didn’t listen. Instead, it shifted voices and timeframes as rapidly as the locations had shifted, overlapping them into a chaotic discord in Chara’s head.

_“Oh, sweetheart…I’ll give you back the knife later. It’s not safe right now.”_

_*cough* “What did you children put in this pie?”_

_“Turn off the camera? Okay.”_

_“Chara! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”_

_“Children…you must be more careful when baking.”_

_“I don’t like this plan, Chara…”_

_“Please wake up!”_

_“You are the future of humans and monsters!”_

_“Six, right? We just have to get six…”_

_“Chara…we love you.”_

_“Please…stay determined.”_

_“I’m sorry, Chara. I wasn’t strong enough.”_

“I hate this I hate this I _hate this_ I HATE THIS!” Chara screamed at the top of their lungs, drowning out the other voices. “STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!!” Too overwhelmed, they collapsed into a tiny ball on the ground, hands still over their ears, eyes shut tight, screaming “STOP!!!” until their voice was hoarse.

When they finally had to pause for breath, they heard a new voice. “Chara?”

The constant barrage of memories stopped dead. They opened their eyes and uncurled just a tiny bit, seeing a familiar human face and a hand outstretched in their direction. “T-Thomas?”

He smiled, but Chara could tell he was worried about…them? No, they must have gotten that wrong.

“Yeah. Are you okay?” he asked, bending down slightly.

“I…will live,” Chara said, rubbing their eyes with the heels of their hands. Then, they looked back up at Thomas and blinked. “Thomas, your chest is glowing.”

*****

Thomas had nearly forgotten about the whole Flowey situation. Screaming friends would always overrule strange flowers, even if said flowers were being extremely threatening.

“Oh. Yeah. Flowey said that this was my SOUL.”

“Flowey?” Chara asked.

Thomas pointed to the flower, who was still smiling, and randomly wondered if Flowey’s face hurt. “I was going to ask you if you knew what was going on, but…”

“I do not,” Chara said, climbing to their feet. They brushed nonexistent dust off of their pants. “But—”

“HEY!” Flowey shouted, having finally noticed that Thomas was distracted. Both Thomas and Chara flinched. “Stop talking to your imaginary friend and listen to ME!”

Thomas snapped to attention, his arm darting out defensively in front of Chara. They looked incredibly taken aback, but Thomas barely noticed. He was now laser-focused on Flowey, who appeared to have spontaneously generated eyebrows solely to show his irritation.

“I’m trying to _teach_ you something here,” said Flowey, drawing out the “ee” sound for just slightly too long. It grated on Thomas’ eardrums. “The least you could do is fu—freaking listen!”

“Sorry sorry sorry sorry,” Thomas said quickly, holding up his left hand. His right arm remained in front of Chara. “Could you maybe say that again?”

Flowey’s eyebrows disappeared, and his smile returned. “Absolutely!”

Thomas realized he was shaking and took a couple deep breaths to calm down. He turned to look at Chara and saw that they were just staring at him. He wanted to ask them if they were okay, but he was afraid of Flowey getting angry again, so he gave them a small smile. They blinked once, but didn’t say anything, so Thomas turned back towards the flower, resolving to check on them as soon as it was safe.

“So, short version!” Flowey said cheerfully. “That red heart? That’s your SOUL. It’s pretty weak, but it gets stronger the more LV you gain.”

Thomas heard Chara inhale sharply beside him. He glanced to the side, and they had one hand on their head and their face scrunched up. He started to ask, “What—”

Flowey interrupted him. “LV stands for LOVE!”

_“No it doesn’t, no it doesn’t, no it doesn’t,”_ Chara whispered, over and over.

“And it’s your lucky day, because I can give you some! You want some LOVE, don’t you?”

Five small white dots appeared around Flowey’s head, and Thomas felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water down his back. Flowey’s grin grew impossibly larger, and Thomas could swear he’d somehow grown fangs. All the while, Chara was still whispering, _“No, no, no, no, no—”_

“LOVE is shared through little white…friendliness pellets!” Flowey trilled. “All you have to do is catch them!”

Thomas was confused and scared and didn’t think that this was a good idea, but he had no clue how to get out of this any other way.

“Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!”

_I’ll…maybe I’ll just catch one._

Thomas took two steps to his right so that he was standing in front of Chara. To their quiet one-person chorus of “No,” he reached a hand up and caught just one of the “friendliness pellets.”

Instantly, the pellet vanished, and Thomas dropped to the ground, gasping. He felt like he’d been punched in the stomach, but REALLY hard. (Or maybe kicked? He wasn’t sure.) At the same time, Chara’s voice stopped abruptly. Thomas wanted to turn around and see if they were okay, but his lungs didn’t seem to be working. He couldn’t get enough air, and the pulsing of his SOUL and heart had gone into overdrive. With an immense amount of effort, he lifted his head.

Flowey was still there, but his face had changed yet again. His eyes were giant black holes, and he definitely had fangs this time. His face was stretched wider than should have been possible with an open-mouthed smile that, despite its size, somehow didn’t really look happy at all.

“You IDIOT. In this world, it’s kill or BE killed.”

Desperately trying to breathe, Thomas managed to gasp out, “Chara…”

Flowey froze for a split second, his grin vanishing before reappearing two-fold.

“Shut up. **D I E.** ”

A ring of “friendliness pellets” surrounded Thomas, slowly closing in, but he had a more pressing concern. “CHARA!”

“Shut **UP**!” Flowey shrieked, the smile still stuck on his face. “This is supposed to be FUN! You’re ruining it!”

A quiet, sad, and bemused voice spoke right next to Thomas’ ear. “I am all right, Thomas.”

Thomas let out a small sigh, the tension dropping from his body for a split second and then immediately returning. “No, you’re not! We’re kind of about to die!”

“I am already dead, I think,” Chara said. “I would worry about yourself—wait, what are you doing?”

Thomas had maneuvered himself onto his knees, groaning, and put his arms around Chara, though it was more like making a large circle around them than giving them a hug.

“I…do not understand.”

Thomas laughed, just a little. “I’m protecting you. The pellets will hit me, not you.”

Chara’s jaw dropped, and they tried to shove him away. Their hands went straight through his arms. “No! Thomas, I am dead already, stop it!” They glanced around, but save moving through the bullets, there was nowhere else to go.

Thomas smiled at them, tears running down his cheeks. “No, I won’t. And no, you’re not.”

He shut his eyes tight and thought of Joan and Talyn. He hoped as hard as he could that they’d be safe and okay someday and not miss him too much. He’d wanted to go back for them so badly, but he wouldn’t be able to now.

They’d run away, maybe, and find a nice home with somebody like Nurse Ellery. They’d be happy, and go to school, and pet lots of kittens, and always have enough to eat. They’d love and be loved, and someday, they’d get everyone else out of that orphanage too.

They’d have a future, and maybe Chara would too.

_That was worth it._

And then, because the universe could not stop jump-scaring him, apparently, a crash and a shriek forced his eyes open. Flowey was gone, as were the pellets. Standing in Flowey’s place was a new monster. This one was tall and fluffy and had short, curved horns on top of their head. They wore a purple tunic emblazoned with a strange symbol—a circle with wings above three triangles. Their arm was stretched out, and their hand was smoking faintly.

“What a terrible creature, torturing a poor, innocent child,” the monster said, disgust clear in their voice. They closed their hand, and the smoke disappeared.

“Who are you?” Thomas asked, his voice trembling.

The monster turned to him, a gentle smile on their face. Their eyes were bright sky blue. “Please don’t be afraid, kiddo. My name’s Patton. I’m the caretaker of the Ruins.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary:
> 
> Chara flashes back to bits of their past while Thomas confronts Flowey. Eventually, they snap out of it, and Thomas and Chara face Flowey together. When he tries to kill the two with "friendliness pellets," Thomas shields Chara. Patton, the caretaker of the Ruins, comes to their rescue.
> 
> Additional notes: SO MANY THINGS GO DOWN. Don't worry, Chara and Thomas will have time to process in a little while. And I'm done with my midterm now, so time for an update before I need to start worrying about the one next week!
> 
> Up next: walking Home.


	4. Saved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thomas gets to know Patton a bit more and unlocks a power he doesn't yet understand. Chara tries not to deal with half-remembered memories. And Chara and Thomas talk, just a little.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: none really, just some angst.

Thomas had no idea how he managed not to cry as he maneuvered onto his knees and took the monster’s hand. His legs shook, barely holding his body up, and he was breathing hard, but he let go of Patton’s hand as soon as he was standing. Thomas glanced at Chara, but they had absolutely no emotion on their face whatsoever, and he was too overwhelmed to figure out what they were feeling right that second. They were staring at Patton, who was in turn staring at Thomas, ignoring Chara completely. It seemed that Patton couldn’t see Chara, either.

“Are you hurt?” Patton asked, sounding concerned. They studied Thomas intently, but it didn’t feel intrusive, just worried.

“I’ll…be okay,” Thomas croaked out, his voice hoarse. He swallowed and realized his throat hurt. “Your name’s Patton?”

“You’re not okay now, though.” Patton frowned. They knelt next to Thomas, lifting one hand, and Thomas flinched. Patton drew back slightly, complicated emotions dancing on their face, and held both their hands up. “I won’t hurt you, kiddo, I promise. And yes, my name is Patton. I use he/him pronouns.”

Thomas resisted the urge to step backwards out of Patton’s reach, both because he didn’t want to be rude and because he wasn’t sure he could move. Instead, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Patton held one hand out to the side, and it began to glow a soft green, the same color as baby grass blades. He smiled tentatively. “I’d like to heal you, if you’d let me.”

“With magic?”

Patton chuckled slightly. “Yep.”

_If he wanted to hurt me, he probably would have already._

Thomas hesitated for just a second longer and then nodded, wincing. The motion made his head spin.

Patton slowly moved the glowing hand towards Thomas and touched it gently to Thomas’ arm. A green glow enveloped Thomas’ entire body. He felt energy rush back into him and the pain in his throat vanish. The entire process only took about ten seconds, but Thomas felt much better afterwards—and simultaneously not better at all.

Thomas chanced a quick look at Chara again. They were still observing the situation with a blank expression, but he could have sworn that he saw a green glow around their body as well. As soon as he blinked, it was gone.

“There, kiddo,” Patton said, nodding and smiling gently. “You should be all right now. Follow me—my home is this way. You’ll be safe there.” He looked past Thomas with a frown, and his eyes flashed. “No strange flowers or other monsters will hurt you again.”

Thomas was unsure what he should do. _Patton wants to protect me. I’m pretty sure that much is true. I don’t know anything about him…but I want to trust him._ He nodded his head the tiniest bit. _And I think Chara wanted to keep going this way originally, so I guess we might as well go with Patton._

He turned his head to see what Chara thought, but they just continued to stare at him and Patton blankly, so he figured the decision was up to him. Still looking at Chara, he said, “Okay.”

Thomas jumped as a wave of anger went through him, accompanied by a mix of other things that he couldn’t identify in the moment. _But…I’m not mad. I’m upset and scared and hopeful and probably other things too, but I’m not mad. What…_

He looked closer at Chara’s face. Their expression remained mostly the same, but their eyebrows were furrowed just slightly. Thomas had been trying to avoid talking to Chara in front of Patton, but he temporarily forgot completely about that and asked, “Are you mad at me?”

Chara’s eyebrows shot up and their eyes focused on Thomas’, accompanied by a burst of surprise in his chest. They opened their mouth to say something, but Patton interrupted them.

“Oh no, of course not! Why would I be angry with you?” Patton took Thomas’ hand between the both of his, the pads of his hands (paws?) just slightly rough. Thomas could feel the tips of claws, safely sheathed. “None of what just happened is your fault, kiddo. I’m just happy I was able to protect you.”

_I can feel their emotions._

Chara shut their mouth and crossed their arms.

“I come through here every day to see if a human has fallen down. You’re the first one in years, though.” Patton stood up, brushing dust off of his tunic. There were a host of emotions brimming in his eyes. Thomas blinked as he realized one of those emotions was pain.

_There were other humans? What happened to them? Was Chara one of them? Do they know Patton? I need to talk to them._

Patton pulled his shoulders back, twisting his face into a smile. Thomas couldn’t decide if it looked forced or not, but it definitely looked uncomfortable.

“Now, why don’t we _pat_ _on_ over to my house?” Patton said, gesturing toward the door. This elicited a quiet giggle from Thomas, and he could swear he heard a sound from Chara as well, though he looked to them and their face was still blank.

The two of them followed Patton out of the cave and down the corridor. Chara floated next to Thomas, shivering as they hugged their arms against their body. They now refused to look at either him or Patton, instead looking straight ahead into the darkness.

In the next cavern, the walls were made of purple brick, and there was a large staircase and a set of doors. A pile of red leaves sat in front of the stairs. Patton walked up the staircase first, then looked down, waiting for Thomas to follow him. He smiled, and this one looked more hopeful than hurt.

Thomas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He thought of Joan and Talyn, trapped and waiting for him on the surface. He thought of Chara, angry and lost right next to him. And he thought of Patton and the unknown Ruins and the mysterious world that he had to venture farther into in order to leave.

He was filled with determination…

…and was immediately nearly blinded by a brilliant golden light. A tiny golden star-like object had appeared in front of him, spinning around on its own axis.

“Thomas, what did you DO?!” Chara hissed.

“I don’t know!” Thomas whispered back. He reached a hand out and touched the star. It was warm, but it didn’t burn him.

“You coming, kiddo?” Patton called down from the top of the stairs.

Thomas hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Hey, Mr. Patton?” He pointed to the star. “Can you see that?”

Patton peered down from the top of the stairs. “The leaves?”

_Well, that answers that question._ “Um…sure, yeah! The leaves! They’re really pretty!”

Patton laughed. “Well, I’m glad you like them, but I think it might be time to _leaf_ them alone and head up the stairs.”

Before Thomas could even react, he heard a snort. Chara had clapped both hands over their mouth and was doing their utmost to keep a straight face. He smiled a bit, and they glared at him, but he was certain they weren’t really angry this time.

“Okay!” he said, running up the stairs as fast as he could. He was out of breath when he got to the top. He glanced down, and the star was still there, spinning in circles.

“You didn’t need to run, kiddo!” Patton chuckled, smiling at Thomas. “You remind me…” His face darkened for a second like a shadow had passed over it. “Never mind. Let’s get going.”

*****

Chara was feeling far too many things, and they were not happy about it. They floated along, a semi-reluctant observer, as Patton led Thomas through the button and lever puzzles at the entrance to the Ruins.

Patton held Thomas’ hand tightly.

Too tightly.

Just enough that it was _wrong._

…

They wanted to hold Patton’s hand.

*****

“Good job!” Patton said brightly as Thomas pulled the last lever. “You’re a natural puzzle-solver!”

Thomas blinked, the compliment taking a moment to register, and then smiled tentatively. He’d met very few adults even remotely like Patton and still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. This was compounded by the fact that all Thomas had done was pull a few levers and step on some stones on the floor. He didn’t feel like a puzzle expert.

Patton walked a bit farther down the corridor and gestured for Thomas to follow, which he did, feeling the texture of the cave floor through his worn-out sneakers. Chara floated along, slightly behind Thomas’ right shoulder, still silent.

The small group came to a stop beside a worn dummy. Its body was cone-shaped, and it stood on a simple base. It was entirely made of cloth and looked to have a horse-shaped head. The head was tilted slightly to the left. Thomas noted the patches on the dummy in particular, as if someone (maybe Patton?) had repaired it multiple times.

“Now, I would prefer it if you could avoid fighting, but some monsters you encounter may start fights regardless of what I want,” Patton said, starting to cross his arms. He stopped and put his hands behind his back instead. “So, I want you to know that you should be able to resolve any conflict by talking to them. I’ll come intervene as soon as possible to make sure they leave you alone.” He brought one hand out and patted the dummy on the head. “How about you practice by talking to the dummy?”

_I’m underground, with a monster named Patton and a…ghost? spirit?...kid named Chara. I just met a flower named Flowey who tried to kill me. And now I’m supposed to talk to a dummy._

_…Maybe it’s a monster, too?_

Thomas approached the dummy slowly, tilting his head just a little to match the dummy. “Um…hi! It’s nice to meet you!”

There was no response. Behind him, Chara said dryly, “It does not seem much for conversation.”

Patton, on the other hand, was beaming. “Excellent job, kiddo! That’s exactly what you should do. Now, let’s continue—there are some more puzzles up ahead.”

*****

Patton wouldn’t let Thomas try the spike puzzle on his own, instead walking him through it carefully while _holding_ his _hand_.

They supposed Patton never had enjoyed letting children near sharp objects.

*****

Patton led Thomas to an incredibly long hallway.

“I want you to walk to the end of this room by yourself. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Thomas stared down the path, confused. “Um…”

“Don’t worry, kiddo, you’ll be safe.” Patton patted Thomas’ head gently, squishing his hair just a little, then walked very quickly down the hall. The corridor twisted, and as Patton rounded the first bend, Thomas lost sight of him.

“I—” Thomas put down the hand that he’d reflexively lifted up. “Okay?” He’d wanted to ask why, but he wasn’t sure enough of Patton yet to do that. Even the nicest of adults sometimes hated being asked why they were doing something.

He started off down the corridor, Chara trailing behind. His boots made a soft rustling sound against the stone floor. It was weirdly peaceful and tense at the same time. Thomas wanted to stop and talk to Chara, who was still upset, but he didn’t really want to leave Patton waiting. He figured he’d talk to them later.

As Thomas walked further and further down the hallway, he himself got more and more upset. Patton had left him…well, not alone, but Patton didn’t know about Chara. But he shoved his feelings away and focused on his footsteps and the faint red glow of Chara that he could see out of the corner of his eye. This wasn’t the time.

Thomas and Chara finally arrived at the end of the hallway and found Patton behind a pillar. Patton came out, laughing just a little. His smile seemed forced again.

“Excellent job, kiddo.”

Thomas furrowed his brow just a little. _Did I do something wrong?_

But instead of that, what came out of his mouth was, “Are you okay?”

Patton’s smile slipped, and he sighed, his shoulders sinking just slightly. “Yeah, kiddo. I just have to go prepare a few things for you at my home—” he winced almost imperceptibly here— “before we go there together, and I need you to wait here while I do. I wanted to make sure you could act on your own, so I had you walk down the hall alone.”

_Oh._

“Oh.”

Thomas couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Is that okay with you?” Patton asked, his face screaming, _please say yes, please say yes._

So Thomas said, “Yes.”

Chara made a noise of some kind behind Thomas, but he couldn’t really process it. He was desperately focusing on the way that Patton smiled, for real this time. _I did what he wanted. He’s happy. That means I have to be okay._

“Here, take this,” Patton said, holding out a small, rectangular device to Thomas. He flipped the casing open and saw buttons with numbers and a small screen. “You can call me on this cell phone if you need anything. My number’s saved in there.”

Thomas just nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” Patton said with another smile, walking backwards until he reached the entrance to the cave and disappeared.

Thomas lifted his shoulders up and down and sighed, sliding down into a seated position against the column. He realized he was shaking and took several deep breaths, and then immediately realized he was being watched. He looked up and saw Chara floating in front of him with their arms crossed.

“What is going on with you?” they asked, a frown twisting their face. “You are not okay. You did not want…him…to leave. Why did you lie?”

Thomas took a breath to answer, but instead, he just burst into tears. Chara jumped backwards a bit, shocked. Their red glow reflected off of the tears in Thomas’ eyes and blurred their shocked face just a little before Thomas shoved his face into his hands and hid them from view entirely.

He wasn’t sure how long he cried, but when the tears finally started to subside, he opened his eyes to Chara on his right. They had sat down next to him and were hugging their legs to their chest.

Thomas let out a watery laugh, and Chara turned to look at him. “You know, I wanted to talk to you about what’s going on with you, but now we both have stuff going on.”

Chara’s eyebrows jumped, but they quickly settled their face again. “I asked you first.”

Thomas turned his head away and focused on the torn denim of his jeans. “I don’t like lying. I’m sorry I did. But I didn’t want to hurt Patton.” He could tell that Chara was confused, so he added, “Patton looked like he really wanted to go and set his house up before I got there. And I didn’t want to make him stay if he wanted to go.”

Chara was still lost. “But…you wanted him to stay.”

Thomas shrugged a little. “Yeah. But that doesn’t matter.”

He felt a shock go through him as Chara finally got what he was saying. They shot to their feet.

“You put his feelings above yours.”

Thomas nodded. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You are crying. Doing that hurt you.”

A couple stray tears fell down Thomas’ face, and he brushed them away, leaving streaks of dirt behind. “But it helped him.”

“But it hurt you!” Chara dropped back to the ground and put their head in their hands. “I…do not understand why you put a monster you barely knew ahead of yourself. Even if he is…much nicer than is…safe.”

Thomas shrugged again, unable to explain himself any better. Something about Chara’s wording was odd, but he put it aside for now. “It…it helped him. And that’s more important.”

“You do not think you’re important.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“…No. Not really.” Thomas didn’t see why this was such a surprise. Chara couldn’t possibly think he was important. They barely knew each other. _And I’m really not important. I couldn’t even help two people up on the surface without getting hurt and being forced to leave them forever. How could I possibly be important?_

“You really are different,” Chara said, letting out a broken laugh. They opened their mouth to say something else and then stopped, pointing to the far corner of the hall. A small, gelatinous creature had rounded the bend, and it squished toward the two children.

“That is called a Moldsmal, I think, though I am not sure how I know that,” Chara said, bemused. “I do not think they are dangerous.”

Thomas’ chest glowed, his SOUL reappearing. He stood up and stepped backward, his body instantly hitting the column. “Are you sure?” he whispered.

“Not…particularly. I really am not sure of anything,” Chara said, a bit grumpily.

The creature squished around in a weird way, but it didn’t attack, and it wasn’t moving any closer. But Thomas’ SOUL was still illuminated.

Thomas figured he might as well try something, even if it was incredibly random, so he took a step forward. “Um…hi! I don’t want to fight, but do you want to dance, maybe?”

He bounced up and down, trying to imitate the Moldsmal’s squishing. It squished along with his bouncing. It had no face, but it seemed pleased. It squished away down the long hall, and Thomas’ SOUL faded back into his chest. He turned to look at Chara.

Chara’s face was twisted with the effort of withholding laughter, and it startled a small giggle out of Thomas. Both children took a deep breath to calm themselves, but they immediately looked at each other and started laughing in earnest. Thomas could feel the tear-stained skin of his cheeks stretching as he smiled, and his SOUL resonated with the confused joy and released emotions that belonged to both him and Chara.

After about a minute, Thomas remembered that he’d wanted to talk to Chara, so he made a concerted effort to stop laughing, coughing in his haste. Chara’s last few giggles trailed off into the silence as he got ahold of himself.

Thomas turned to them. He wasn’t sure where to start, but he knew he needed to. He could feel the fingers of his left hand pressing together into a not-quite fist as he began, “Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s completely okay, but…how did you know what a Moldsmal was?”

Chara blinked. “Oh. I do not know.” Thomas tilted his head, and they frowned. “I am not lying. I did not know what it was before I saw it, and then I just…did.”

“Maybe you only remember things when you see them again.” Thomas’ mouth turned down to match Chara’s as he realized something. “Wait, so, then…do you know Patton?”

Chara’s face closed. Thomas could feel their anger and frustration and sadness, and he quickly backpedaled. “Like I said, if you don’t want to talk about it—”

“Yes.”

Thomas stopped. “Oh. Okay.”

Chara flinched a little. “Stop putting me first. I don’t deserve it. And you need to know. Because there is no way I am leaving.” They looked down at their hands. “I…want to remember everything. And I think you are right. I think I can only remember when I see the things…and people…I forgot. So, I might as well come with you. And if I come with you, we are going to see Patton again…so you should know.”

Thomas nodded. “O—I mean, all right. Go ahead.”

Chara dipped their head just a little. It was an oddly formal gesture. “I cannot remember everything, but I think my life on the surface was…not good. I came down here the same way you did; that much I know for sure.” Their hands were together in their lap, and their right thumb rubbed the fingers on their left hand almost obsessively. They were no longer looking at Thomas but instead into the distance.

“Patton, his husband, and his son took me in,” Chara continued. “I lived with them for…a few years? I think?” They shook their head, frustrated. “I am not sure. I can’t remember any of their faces or names except Patton’s. And I can barely remember them at all. But remembering them hurts. And I am upset with them for some reason that I cannot remember, or potentially multiple reasons, but I still care about them. It does not make sense.”

Thomas tilted his head again, this time simply confused. “Why not?”

Chara’s eyes focused on Thomas’, their fingers still rubbing together. “I do not understand why I can feel both.”

Thomas thought about this for a second. “Well, if you can be happy and sad at the same time, why can’t you feel other things at the same time?”

Chara frowned. “What?”

“When I left my friends, I was happy that I’d stopped them from getting hurt, but I was sad that I had to leave. And I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to help them anymore.” Thomas smiled just a little, but he felt his eyes begin to tear up again, just a bit. He blinked the tears away. He needed to be able to see Chara. “If I can feel two things at once, why couldn’t you?”

Chara turned away from Thomas completely, drawing their knees into their chest. Their voice muffled against their legs, they said, “I don’t want to. Not towards people. I don’t know how.”

Their shoulders shook, and Thomas could hear their jaggedy breaths. He realized that they were crying, and he wished desperately that he could hug them. He inched a bit closer.

“Would it help at all to know that I care about you?”

The crying sounds stopped, and Chara lifted their head, turning it so that Thomas could see half of their face. The tears on their cheek shone bright, like tiny red sunbeams in the dark. They laughed, the sound brittle like cracked glass. “Thomas, you barely know me.”

“I know some things about you, though,” Thomas said, moving to Chara’s side. “I know that your name’s Chara. I know that you laugh really hard and that you like silly puns. I know that you feel stuff stronger than most people, and I know that you hate lies and most humans. I know that you want to understand things, just like I do, and that you’re not afraid to ask questions.”

He stared into Chara’s eyes, hoping that they’d feel his sincerity. “I know that you’re hurting, and I want to help, even if you don’t understand why. And I know that I want to be your friend.”

Chara exhaled, one final tear making its way down their face. The corners of their mouth tilted upwards. “You are right. I do not understand you.” They got to their feet, and Thomas followed suit. When they brushed their tears away, no tear tracks remained, just a few sparkles that faded away into the dark.

“But I would like to be your friend, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary:
> 
> Thomas is healed by Patton, who says that he can take Thomas to his home where he'll be safe. With limited options, Thomas agrees, especially since Patton seems genuinely nice. The three of them, including Chara, walk through the puzzles at the beginning of the Ruins. Thomas creates a glowing star seemingly out of thin air. Thomas and Chara talk about their feelings after Patton leaves them to prepare things at his home. The two agree to be friends.
> 
> Additional notes: Well, all right, we're here! This took much longer than I would have thought. I really wanted to write the part where Chara and Thomas talk, so I got stuck on writing everything else. (Also, of course, school is a thing that exists.) But I'm so glad I got it done! The kids will talk more later for sure--they still have a lot they haven't covered, but they're good-ish for now.
> 
> Also: I have made Spotify playlists for all the characters! I'll be posting links to them here once the characters are revealed in-story. However, most of them are public on my Spotify account already. I originally made them public, and people have followed them, so I don't want to make them private at this point and take them away from anyone listening to them. This is important, though, because if you listen to playlists for characters who have not yet been introduced and read their descriptions, you might be spoiled for which Sanders Sides character takes the place of which Undertale character. If you don't mind being spoiled, go for it and listen to whatever ones you want! If you want to avoid spoilers, just listen to the ones that I link on here as I link them. (You could consider any playlist to have some spoilers for their character arcs, technically, also, but I'm not sure how clear those spoilers would be at this point to anyone who isn't me.)
> 
> The playlists are still in progress and will likely be continually updated as I find more songs that fit the characters.
> 
> Thomas' playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4X7f1RJbdzpP7r4iLkIGsx?si=XXKUDBFXSh-HN8KhRh68mQ
> 
> Chara's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SoyCyJtRH0CvnkdEweIsL?si=ravWNflASwijDfArRXDjyg
> 
> Patton's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BYvIxecye4QVHLeR7Wb85?si=EXq9M565Q-qUFQURqFdxUg
> 
> All the pictures for the character playlists on Spotify were made with this picrew: https://picrew.me/image_maker/94097
> 
> (Obviously, Patton and the other monster characters are not human, but I am not an artist and could not draw pictures of them in their monster forms, so I resorted to making human versions via the picrew. Side note, if you ever want to draw any of the characters, you are more than welcome to! Please share the art with me when you're done, or tag me on Tumblr. My Tumblr blog is swimmingseafish.)
> 
> The next update will either be very soon or take a bit--I have a midterm and a project coming up, but I also have a great deal of motivation to write this story at the moment. It will come at some point for sure, though!
> 
> Up next: two children (technically) misbehave.


	5. Misbehaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Chara talk--about some things, at least--and make their way through the Ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: brief but not detailed traumatic flashbacks, self-deprecating thoughts.
> 
> As usual, please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to add to the content warnings!
> 
> See end for a summary.

Chara doubted that it was truly possible to be blinded by a smile, but if it was, they most certainly would have been by Thomas’. They had to fight against allowing a similar smile to emerge on their own face. _I have a friend._

Their brain decided to tack the word _again_ onto that statement. _I have a friend again._ Chara no longer had to fight so hard against their smile.

Thomas’ smile was only there for a couple seconds before it dimmed, too. “So…you’re not angry at me anymore?” he asked them tentatively.

Chara frowned. “…No? When was I—oh.” They flinched. Recalling that memory felt like someone had prodded the back of their brain with a slightly blunted needle. “I am not sure why I was angry. I do not think you did anything wrong. But I’m not angry now.”

Chara’s memories were so frustratingly fluid and incomplete. They remembered Patton— _Dad_ —now, and they knew they had another father who liked gardening and tea and a brother who liked trying to catch them on video. They knew they had never had a home on the surface and the reason for that was something to do with humans (unsurprisingly, maybe, since all monsters were underground). They knew there was someone named Eden who they missed desperately and that he was a monster, too.

If their dad was still around, Eden could be too, maybe. And then Chara could see him and remember him.

Right?

_Is Papa still here, too?_

They shivered, even though they weren’t cold. They had a feeling that there was a big piece of their story they were missing.

They did not like it.

Thomas shook them from their reverie. “That’s okay! I’m glad you’re not mad at me now.” The sunshine smile reappeared for a second before his mouth dropped open. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you—I think I can feel your emotions.”

“Wait, what?!”

*****

Thomas’ explanation was not short, and Chara was getting slightly frustrated.

“…and I knew I wasn’t angry, but I felt anger anyways, so I looked at you and you were!” Thomas said brightly, gesturing to himself and Chara. “And then there was that other time—”

“Stop,” Chara said.

Thomas instantly shut his mouth, so quickly that his teeth clacked together. Chara winced.

“I did not mean…I meant that I understand, and you do not need to explain anything else.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry, sometimes I talk too much—”

“It is _fine,_ Thomas.” Chara couldn’t decide between wanting to shake some sense into him to get him to stop apologizing and wanting to give him a hug or something. A _hug_? What on earth was this? They were not a touchy person. At least not with strangers.

_Thomas isn’t a stranger, though,_ a tiny voice at the back of their mind reminded them. _He’s your friend now, remember?_

_Shut UP,_ they told the voice. _And it is beside the point. I cannot touch him._

But they didn’t have to do anything else—Thomas stopped apologizing and smiled at them, a little sheepishly. All they’d had to do was say it was okay.

They meant to ask about the emotion thing, or maybe about the glowing star, but what came out of their mouth instead was, “You trust me?”

They felt a small twinge of surprise as Thomas’ forehead crinkled. _Oh. I can feel his emotions too, then._ “You hate lies, so why would you lie to me? Of course I trust you.”

Chara looked away to hide their small smile. “You are…different.”

Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Thomas shrug. “I know. I’m weird.” He got to his feet and held a hand out to Chara before remembering they couldn’t take it and dropping it back to his side. Chara got up to join him.

“So, what do we do now?” they asked, brushing nonexistent dirt off their pants out of habit.

“Hmm,” Thomas said, thinking. “Maybe I could try calling Patton? And figure out how to use the cell phone?”

Chara automatically stiffened at Patton’s name. _Why am I so angry at him when I cannot even remember what he did?_ They shrugged off the feeling and did their best to replace it with the warm, cinnamon-y smell they remembered from Patton’s kitchen. “Sure.”

Thomas tapped various buttons until he found Patton’s number under “Contacts” and hit “OK.” Patton picked up after three rings. “Hi, kiddo! Is anything wrong?”

Thomas gasped a little, and turned panicked eyes to Chara, who instantly realized that they had not thought of anything to say. “Um…no! Definitely not! I just wanted to say hi!”

_Thomas, you are really not a very good liar._

“Oh!” Patton sounded surprised and pleased. “Well, okay! Hi!” He cleared his throat. “It is very nice to hear from you, but I need to get a few more things—can I talk to you later?”

“Sure!” Thomas’ voice didn’t quite match the sentiment in the word as he ended the call, and Chara didn’t understand how Patton couldn’t hear it.

And then they remembered—

_“Yeah. I’m ready.”_

_“I’m doing really well in class!”_

_“We were just practicing magic.”_

—their dad had never been good at hearing lies when he wasn’t looking for them.

Chara was flooded with memories of pie and hugs and books and puns, and they realized very abruptly that the last thing that they wanted to do was wait for Patton to come back. They were angry with him, but they missed him. They wanted to go find him.

Thomas put the phone back in his pocket, glancing down for a second. When he looked back up, Chara was about a foot away from him, and he stumbled back with a startled, “Whoa!”

“I did not mean to startle you,” Chara said, backing up a few steps. “But I wanted to ask you something.”

Thomas, still a little off balance, nodded. “Okay. What is it?”

“Can we try to find our way through the Ruins on our own?”

“You want us to leave?” His hand slipped into his pocket again, reflexively touching the phone. “But I told Patton that we’d stay.”

“I know,” Chara said, resisting the absurd urge to fly up to the ceiling of the cavern and sulk. “But I do not want to.” They stared pointedly at Thomas. “And I know that you do not want to wait, either.”

“I didn’t want him to _leave_ , Chara,” Thomas said, looking away from them. “That’s not the same as me wanting to go.”

Chara made a disgruntled noise. “But maybe you would want to go find him. And that involves leaving. So, we should leave, right?”

“Why is this the argument _you’re_ using on _me_?” Thomas asked. “Patton’s _your_ dad. Why do you want to leave if you don’t want to find him?”

“I do want to find him. I…” Chara trailed off, trying to shove their feelings into a metaphorical bottle and hide it in the back of their brain. “I just…”

Thomas’ eyes lit up, but in an understanding way, not in a happy way. “You’re mad at him. Like you were saying before, when you said you were upset with your family.”

_That is not going to work when you two can literally feel each other’s emotions, Chara. You really are an idiot._

They sighed. “I do not know why. Add it to the list of things I cannot remember. But yes, I am. And I want to find him anyway.”

Thomas had a strange look on his face. Chara tried to think of the proper word to describe it. Surprised? _No._ Stubborn? _No._ Angry? _Definitely not._ Idiotic? _No. And that one was rude, brain._

“Okay, we’re going to leave, then,” he said.

For the second time in five minutes, Chara blurted, “Wait, what?”

“We need to find your dad, and we can’t do that from here.” Thomas began walking towards the cavern exit. “And I want you to be able to remember your family, and if we sit here staring at the walls, that’s definitely not going to help.” He took a deep breath. “And I’ll also at least be moving in the right direction to get back to Joan and Talyn.”

He stopped and turned back to Chara when he reached the beginning of the corridor. He wasn’t smiling and his face was serious, but somehow Thomas still shone as bright as the sun—energetic and warm and strong.

“You coming?”

And Chara finally found the word they’d been looking for right as another golden star burst to life at Thomas’ feet.

_Determined._

Having hit his threshold for strange things that day, Thomas just blinked and laughed. “I have no idea how I keep doing that. But really, are you coming?”

Chara nodded. “You are strange, and too nice, and probably magic—”

“I’m DEFINITELY not magic,” Thomas interrupted. Chara blinked at him for a second. They shook their head and continued.

“—but yes, absolutely.”

They offered Thomas a real, full smile, and the two children walked through the entryway into the rest of the Ruins.

*****

Chara had never liked puzzles, but watching Thomas enjoy himself made them want to smile again. They translated the worn-down signs on the walls for Thomas, floating up close to make out the words. Thomas then jumped into action, racing around to press buttons or to slide down trapdoor slides in the pursuit of switches.

They ran into a few more Moldsmals in the process, and Thomas had a chance to hone his wiggle-dance skills.

“What a riveting conversation,” Chara commented dryly after the third Moldsmal dance, and Thomas burst out laughing.

“Definitely!” he said, giggling.

There were weirder monsters, too, like the Froggits, who made Chara realize that they could speak an entirely different language. They translated some Froggits’ croaks to Thomas. When others engaged him in battle, Thomas insisted on giving them compliments. Chara tried to teach him to say them in Froggit, but Thomas ended up saying something nonsensical about shoelaces instead, so both of them stopped trying. The Froggits seemed to enjoy the compliments regardless.

The worst ones, though, were the Vegetoids, who forced Thomas to catch green carrot-like bullets before they’d let him move past.

“EAT YOUR GREENS,” said one, a permanent smile on their face that reminded Chara uncomfortably of Flowey and made them want to get as far away as possible. They could feel Thomas’ fear and even saw him shiver once, but he gamely ran towards the green bullets every time.

They had to take a short break after that. Thomas sat down in a shallow pile of red leaves on the floor and ran his hands through them, the soft rustling calming both of them down. Chara floated, cross-legged, two inches above the ground to his right.

“Why are they attacking us?” he asked, turning a particularly bright red leaf over and over in his hands. The leaf was nearly the size of both of his hands put together.

“I believe some monsters start fights as a method of greeting others,” Chara said, once again pulling information from the void of their memories. “Others may know that you are human.” They felt a shiver of their own, but this one was of revulsion.

This brought Thomas up short. He stopped spinning the leaf and looked up at Chara. “You hate humans.” It wasn’t really a question.

They shrugged and then flinched, a memory jumping out with such force that it might as well have clocked them in the face. Their eyes reflexively closed.

_“Use your words or nothing at all, do you understand me?”_

_“I—I’m sorry, Father, I didn’t mean to—”_

_“And speak properly!”_

_“…I am sorry, Father. I did not mean—”_

_“Sorry means nothing! Behave properly instead.”_

Chara opened their eyes. “Yes. I do.”

Instead of looking surprised or horrified, as they’d expected, Thomas’ face was relatively calm and his expression solemn. He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry means nothing!” Chara snapped. They immediately wanted to throw themself into lava both at their phrase and at Thomas’ jolt of guilt. “I mean…it was not your fault. You did not make me hate humanity. And I do not hate you.”

“Oh,” Thomas said. Chara could feel his relief on top of a mass of other conflicted emotions. “I know it’s not my fault. I meant that I wish you didn’t have to go through whatever it was that made you hate humans.”

Chara wanted to respond, but they found themself temporarily without words, so they just nodded. By the way Thomas’ face cleared, they were pretty sure he understood. Then his brow suddenly furrowed.

“What?” they asked, jolted into speech by their concern.

“Um…” Thomas seemed to be looking anywhere but at Chara. “I thought of a question, but then I figured out the answer, so never mind.”

Chara frowned. “You are not lying, but you are also not telling me everything.”

Thomas met their eyes. “Can—can we talk about this later?” He stood up, brushing a small stray leaf off of his leg. “I promise I’m not trying to hide anything. It might take a while to talk about, and I think we should keep moving.”

They nodded, not sure exactly what they were feeling but accepting of this arrangement. “All right.”

The two children proceeded through a few more uneventful rooms, running into another Moldsmal, two more Froggits, and a Loox—a strange monster with only one eye—before arriving in a room filled with vines. It was split in half by a wall with a large archway in the center, and there was…something resting in the pile of leaves in the middle of the arch.

Chara floated closer to it, squinting. Thomas whispered, “Did someone leave a blanket on the floor?”

But then Chara saw the “blanket” move up and down, and they stopped in their tracks. “No. I think it is a ghost monster.”

“Oh, okay,” Thomas said, a confused but accepting expression on his face. “But they don’t look like you.”

“Why would they look like me?” Chara said, bemused.

“You’re a ghost, too, right? Or something kinda like a ghost?”

“I’m not a monster,” Chara snapped. “It makes sense that I would look different.” They turned away, hugging their shoulders. They were not enjoying this comparison.

Thomas must have been able to tell how uncomfortable they were. “Okay. I’m sorry. Can we talk to them and ask them to move?”

“ _You_ could try,” Chara said, still sullen. “I doubt they will be able to hear _me_.”

They felt Thomas’ flinch, and part of them wanted to apologize, but before they could, Thomas stepped forward towards the ghost. “Umm…hi! Sorry to bug you, but could you please move over a little bit so that we could get by?”

The ghost’s eyes remained closed, but Chara could hear them snoring softly.

Thomas tentatively reached out a foot and attempted to poke the ghost. However, being a ghost, his foot went straight through them, and they immediately jolted awake. Thomas’ SOUL glowed, and he jumped back with a yelp of surprise. Chara snapped to attention as the ghost let out a similar yelp, staring at Thomas.

The ghost had a grey-silver tint, just enough to make them seem solid, but they were otherwise completely transparent. They blinked several times, trying to make sense of what they were seeing, and Thomas’ SOUL faded back into his chest. He let out a deep breath, and Chara pretended they weren’t doing the same.

“O-oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to block the way—this is just where I nap from time to time; usually it’s only Mr. Patton who comes this way,” rambled the ghost, who looked upset. “You surprised me; I would never intentionally attack—wait—are you a human?”

Thomas nodded tentatively, ignoring Chara’s hiss of warning.

“I see. You’re the first human down here in a while.” The ghost then turned, unmistakably, to Chara. “Wait, but if they’re human, what are you?”

Chara was speechless, but Thomas wasn’t. “You can see them?”

The ghost looked like they really wanted to leave. “Am I not supposed to see them?”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Thomas rushed to reassure them. “You’re just the first one who has, so we were surprised.” He turned his gaze to Chara, but they were still overwhelmed and didn’t meet his eyes.

_What am I?_

The ghost relaxed a little but jumped when Thomas stuck out a hand. “So sorry to wake you up, but it’s very nice to meet you, um…”

“No, _I’m_ sorry that I scared you, human,” said the ghost, smiling just a little. “And I’m Elliot. They/them. Sorry that I can’t shake your hand. I’m kind of incorporeal.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Elliot!” Thomas said brightly, and Elliot looked bemused but pleased.

“Could—” Chara began, and then coughed as Elliot and Thomas both turned to them. Their voice was hoarse, and they could not figure out why. “Could you move out of the way for us? We are trying to get to D—we’re trying to go see Patton.”

“Oh…” Elliot said, trailing off. “Of course, but I think he went to see the Ruins spiders for ba—for supplies. He should be home in a little while…I think…just follow the main path and you should get there pretty quickly.”

“Thank you,” Thomas said quietly. It took Chara a few seconds to realize that he’d moved closer to them, and, against their will, they felt protected. “For your help.”

“I’m not sure how much I helped, but you’re welcome, human,” Elliot said, a bit uncertainly. “I wish you luck. Please stay safe. Mr. Patton can be…not scary, exactly, but…intimidating, maybe? I think that’s a better word. I hope to see you and your glowing friend again someday.”

And with that, Elliot sunk through the floor and disappeared.

******

They passed a couple more monsters and traps on the way, but Thomas dealt with them without any input from Chara, dancing and talking and even singing, once. They retreated into themself and their thoughts, staying beside Thomas but feeling unnecessary.

What were they? They were—they shuddered—human, at one point, at least. They knew they were not a monster. They were not good enough to be a monster. But then, what were they? They couldn’t be a ghost. Ghosts were monsters like Elliot.

They glowed red and had come back from a death they couldn’t remember. Their human father would call it unnatural and probably several other choice words besides. Maybe they were a demon after all. _He was right about me._

Chara could feel Thomas’ concern and worry. All of his attention that wasn’t focused on the cave passages was on them. They didn’t understand how he cared so much, especially for them.

_Of all humans, why care about me, Thomas? You have two friends on the surface. You do not need a third. Two is more than I ever had._

“Hey.” Thomas’ voice jolted them back to reality. “Stop being down on yourself.”

Chara hugged their arms close to their chest and refused to respond. They could feel his concern spike, but he didn’t address it again. Instead, he pointed to the wall of the cavern where two spiderwebs hung and tilted his head to the side. A sign in front of them stated, “Spider Bake Sale! 7g for a donut!”, and Chara obligingly translated it.

“We can get donuts!” He beamed, and Chara couldn’t help but smile back at least a little.

Thomas dug around in his pockets and pulled out a few dollar coins. He placed them in the web and took a donut, looking down at it contemplatively.

“Hey, Chara?”

“Yes?”

“You know how gifts, um, say something? Like you give something to your friend to tell them you love them?”

Now Chara was confused. “…Yes?”

The corners of Thomas’ mouth twitched. “Do you know what I like to say with donuts?”

“What?”

Thomas lifted his donut into the air and moved it from left to right in a horizontal line, breaking into a full-blown grin.

“Ooooooooooooo!”

There was a beat, and then Chara burst out laughing. They tried to stop, but they couldn’t. They felt like their sides were splitting open, but in a good way. Thomas joined them, falling on the floor as the cavern echoed with the sound of his joy.

When they finally wore themselves out, Thomas stood up. He pulled a worn-out piece of cloth from his pocket and wrapped the donut in it, putting it in his pocket.

Chara’s brow furrowed. “You’re not going to eat it?”

Thomas shook his head. “I’m not hungry. And this is your donut. I’m just holding onto it since you can’t.”

“But I cannot eat it.”

Thomas shrugged. “Yeah, I know. Sorry. But I don’t have anything else to give you.”

He smiled at Chara and walked back out of the cavern into the main passageway. They followed close behind, still confused but feeling oddly warm at the same time.

*****

They finally reached a large, mostly empty cavern with a friendly-looking house at the end of it. There was a large tree in the center of the room with red leaves sitting at the base. No leaves were actually on the tree.

Chara had a brief flash of a memory—playing in the leaf piles with a blurry figure under shadows cast by branches full of bright green leaves—but they shook their head, needing to stay in the moment. They wanted to be here, now, with their friend. They could figure memories out once they were safe.

As the two children approached the tree, Patton exited the house and ran towards Thomas, who was now sporting slightly ripped shorts and a lot more dirt on his clothes than he had been when they first met.

“Oh dear, I told you to wait for me! Who did this to you, kiddo?”

“Oh, no, don’t worry, please,” Thomas said, flinching slightly at Patton’s attempts to brush the dirt off his arm. “Sorry, sorry, please don’t worry. I’m fine, Dad.”

Everything and everyone froze.

Chara could feel Thomas’ shock and confusion and…fear? They thought, with a sort of detachedness, that he probably wanted to apologize about fifty times now.

Patton unfroze first, blinking several times. He knelt in front of Thomas, brushing off the beginnings of his apologies.

“Kiddo, it’s perfectly fine, it really is—would it…make you happy? To call me Dad?”

Thomas looked like…Chara couldn’t remember the expression. A deer that bites? Something like that. But Patton didn’t seem to mind.

“You can call me whatever you want,” he said. “I—” he paused for a moment, and then continued. “I promise it’s completely fine.”

Thomas nodded and did his best to give Patton a smile. Chara was feeling too many things again.

“Well, why don’t we go inside, then?” Patton said, gesturing towards the house. “You’ll be able to rest and be safe there.”

Thomas nodded again.

_For a given definition of safe,_ Chara thought mutinously, and then was immediately more upset because they STILL DIDN’T KNOW WHY THEY WERE ANGRY.

_It’s fine. We are here. Thomas will be safer here, at least. And maybe I will be able to get some of my questions answered now._

The small group of three walked (and floated) past the tree and towards the house. When they reached the door, Patton opened it and gestured for Thomas to come inside.

“Welcome to Home, kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Chara and Thomas discuss the fact that they have an emotional connection and decide not to wait for Patton. They instead head through the Ruins on their own, meeting several monsters, including a nervous ghost monster named Elliot who can see and hear Chara. Chara realizes they have no idea what sort of creature they are now, but Thomas cheers them up with a pun and a spider donut. They reach Patton's home in the Ruins, called Home. They end the chapter by heading inside.
> 
> Notes:
> 
> So, it's been a couple months; I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
> 
> I just want to let you know that this fic is DEFINITELY not abandoned, and I have no plans to do so. Life events might come up (such as, you know, the pandemic and related things, which is a very broad description of what happened the past two months), but I promise I will let you guys know if the fic is ever discontinued.
> 
> My goal is to never go longer than about two months in-between posting chapters, but hopefully I'll be able to post them quicker. We'll have to see what comes up next in my life, I guess! :P
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's left kudos and comments so far. It means a lot to me.


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